1. Field of the Invention
This invention concerns an infant transitional sensory system, one designed to expedite a smooth transition by an infant from the womb to full awareness of the physical world. While it may seem to be deceptively simple, consisting as it does of a hammock-like sheet and a sonic device on that sheet for generating heart beat-like sounds and vibrations, the transitional sensory system addresses basic problems of infant care and offers major advances in such care.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years various psychological studies have shown that the environment and treatment of an infant in the days and months following birth can and do have a major psychological effect in later years of life. In the womb, a fetus has an intimate symbiotic relationship with the mother; it gradually becomes increasingly aware of various sensory stimuli as it develops, but particularly of sounds, touches, movements and its enveloping space. This enriched environment in the womb provides and offers the fetus both a feeling of security and considerable tactile kinesthetic stimulation.
At birth, the rich intrauterine environment is suddenly replaced with a whole new world of sensations. The gamut of stimuli given the fetus before birth suddenly stops. Recent investigations indicate that kinesthetic stimuli such as touching, movement and definition of space, stimuli provided by rocking and cuddling, result in impulses in the infant's nervous system that are directed to the cerebellum to stimulate its development, a process that goes on for at least the first two years of a child's life. Since the cerebellum is the only part of the brain in which brain cell multiplication continues long after birth, this cerebullar stimulation well may be of unique importance. It has been suggested that such stimulation leads to smoothly coordinated muscular efforts in the adult; a ballet dancer represents a high state of cerebullar functioning in which thousands of muscles are controlled with exquisite precision. Kinesthetic stimulation of the infant therefore well may be of primary importance, yet modern baby care practices often prevent just such stimulation. Indeed, many of the products available to parents today are designated to free parents from activities which would provide kinesthetic stimulation for the infant.
The development of the human infant has been described as consisting of two distinct stages of gestation, the first being the nine month period inside the womb, called uterogestation, and the second being the first nine months outside the womb, called exterogestation. During exterogestation infants progress to the point at which they can crawl on all fours. During both stages, stimulation of the infant's primary sensory systems appears to be of great importance; the kinesthetic stimuli provided an infant during exterogestation--the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and warm feelings that comprise the enfolding love that ought to be the birthright of every child--now appears to be of basic importance in the development of a normal, well adjusted human being. To give a few examples, tactile stimulation appears to initiate all innate infant reflexes. Touch is the infant's number one teacher. Not only does it help the infant develop emotional security but actually it appears to also assist the body in development of the brain and nervous system. For this reason, holding the infant, messaging the infant, and providing the infant with different textures to touch are important. Tactile stimulation also seems to have a calming effect on the infant and to assist the infant in organizing its sensory systems, called sensory integration. As another example, handling the infant and providing it with the sensation of movement seems to be vital to the infant's growth, both social, emotional and intellectual. Stimulating the infant's movement sensory system, called the vestibular sensory system, provides the infant with joy and pleasure. Hugging and cuddling the infant develops its emotional security. It also appears to stimulate the thymus gland, a major determinant of the infant's growth and immune systems. Providing the infant with an environment which resists, but yields, to its movement allows the infant to stretch and exercise both its muscular and skeletal systems.
The normal bassinette and crib provided for an infant during exterogestation offers little if any of the necessary stimulation. Since today in many families both parents are employed, and are away from the infant for extended periods only to return home tired and with concerns that compete with the infant for attention, many infants can be deprived of essential sensory stimuli for prolonged intervals. This can lead to long periods of crying by the infant, and to serious psychological problems in later life.
Obviously parents have for centuries been attempting to satisfy the needs of their children, especially in the months following birth. In animals in which the infants are born at an intermediate stage of development, animals such as kangaroos and opossums, the female is equipped with a pouch to provide primary sensory stimuli to the infant during the period of exterogestation. However, while human infants also go through a distinct period of exterogestation, for centuries their parents have placed them in a bassinette or crib and attempted to quickly adapt the infant's natural body rhythms and cycles to the convenience of an adult's schedule. Particularly in recent years this schedule seems to provide less and less tactile kinesthetic stimulation for the infant, a deficiency which is becoming increasingly apparent as a major contributor to serious psychological problems in later life.
3. Objectives of the Invention
A basic object, then, of the Infant Transitional sensory system of the present invention is to provide tactile kinesthetic stimulation for the primary senses of an infant, thereby encouraging and promoting the infant's normal body, brain and psychological development. To attain these objectives has always been of primary importance to parents. It appears that the present invention achieves major advances in this regard. It also has other objectives, and offers other advantages, all of which will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the system.